Easterner Theme (for Really Wild West in Starfinder)

One of the classic concepts in most westerns is the character from “back east.” In the Really Wild West people who know more about culture and polite society, and by the same token less about the brutal conditions of “the west,” are also expected to be better educated overall, and have access to the most recently updated information on any topic.

While you are in the Really Wild West now, you spent most of your life in a more civilized, less frontier region. That may be back on the East Coast of the United States, or it might be the urban centers of any major country, such as Mexico City or Tokyo. You enjoyed the benefits of cosmopolitan newspapers and the bonus to current event tracking that comes from living near a node of the Babbage-Bell Grid… while at the same time you have significantly less practical experience with the skills needed to survive in the rough.

Theme Knowledge (1st)

Choose an Intelligence based skill. When attempting a Profession or Culture check to recall knowledge about major figures, theorems, and advances in the field that skill represents, decrease the DC by 5. You gain a +1 bonus to checks with this skill, and it becomes a class skill for you (though if it is a class skill from the class you take at 1st level, you instead gain a total of a +2 bonus to checks with the skill). You also take a -1 penalty to all Survival checks, and if you have no ranks in Survival cannot take 10 with that skill.

In addition, you gain an ability adjustment of +1 to Charisma at character creation.

Up to Date (6th)

You manage to keep your education current and maintain the advantages your lifetime with modern information sources gave your information base. You gain 3 extra skill points at 6th level. These must be spent on Int-, Wis-, or Cha-based skills. You do not add your Intelligence bonus to this collection of bonus skill points, and you cannot have more ranks in a given skill than your level.

Soul of Civility (12th)

Your civilized and refined nature is clear for all to see, and causes people who aren’t already opposed to you to take your opinion seriously. You gain a +5 bonus to Diplomacy checks to change the attitude of indifferent and friendly creatures.

Comforts of Home (18th)

Up to twice a day, when you take at least 10 minutes to enjoy one of the finer things from the culture of home (be that a fine cup of tea, a few lines from a favored book of poetry or great piece of literature, humming classical music, or whatever), you regain one expended Resolve Point.

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About okcstephens

Owen K.C. Stephens
Owen Kirker Clifford Stephens is the Starfinder Design Lead for Paizo Publishing, the Freeport and Pathfinder RPG developer for Green Ronin, a developer for Rite Publishing, and the publisher and lead genius of Rogue Genius Games.
Owen has written game material for numerous other companies, including Wizards of the Coast, Kobold Press, White Wolf, Steve Jackson Games and Upper Deck.
He also consults, freelances, and in the off season, sleeps.